THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESL COLLOCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE · 2016-08-13 · ABSTRACT . This study examines the development of collocational knowledge in learners of ESL. A number of previous

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESL COLLOCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

A Thesis

Submited in fulfilment of the

requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in the

Centre for Language Teaching and Research

The University of Queensland

by

Christina Gitsaki

BA (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece), MA (UCNW, Bangor, UK)

July 10th, 1996

STATEMENT OF SOURCES

I declare that the work presented in the thesis is to the best of my knowledge

and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and that the material

has not been submitted either in whole or in part for a degree at this or any

other university.

Christina Gitsaki

ii

ABSTRACT

This study examines the development of collocational knowledge in

learners of ESL. A number of previous studies have underscored the

importance of collocations for L2 acquisition, and the problems that learners

face with learning and using collocations. However, there have been few

attempts to systematically study how the development of collocational

knowledge relates to the overall development of language proficiency with a

particular intention in identifying possible stages in the development of L2

collocational knowledge. This study adopts a structure-based framework for

the study of collocations based on previous studies (Zhang 1993; Biscup 1992)

and the BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English, and attempts to describe how

collocational knowledge develops across different language proficiency levels

with respect to 37 collocation types. Data were collected from 275 Greek

learners of ESL at three proficiency levels (post-beginners, intermediate, and

post-intermediate) using three tasks: essay writing, translation test, and blank-

filling. The essay writing provided evidence of accurate free production of

collocations, while the translation and blank-filling tests measured accuracy in

the subjects’ knowledge of collocations in cued production tasks. The data

were examined with respect to the between- and within-group differences in

accuracy on all three dependent measures. Statistical measures were employed

to determine the significance of the observed between-group and within-group

differences, and implicational scaling analyses was used to reveal accuracy

orders in the acquisition of collocations. Results show that there are patterns of

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development of collocational knowledge across and within the different

proficiency groups for both the free and the cued production data.

Collocational knowledge was shown to increase steadily as the level of

proficiency increased, and there were group-specific accuracy orders showing

that grammatical collocations are easier to acquire than lexical collocations. The

development of collocational knowledge was found to be influenced by the

syntactic complexity of the collocation types, and also by exposure and

maturation.

Finally, three stages for the development of collocational knowledge are

proposed. In the first stage learners acquire collocations as unanalysed lexical

items, and hence the learners are more accurate with lexical collocations than

complex grammatical ones. At the second stage the learners' grammatical

knowledge develops enabling learners to use complex grammatical collocations

with greater accuracy than in stage one. At the third stage of collocational

development, learners are able to use both grammatical and lexical collocations

with greater accuracy than in the other two stages, and they are on their way to

a more advanced level of collocational knowledge.

Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are provided

in light of the research findings.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

STATEMENT OF

SOURCES......................................................................................ii

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................v

LIST OF

TABLES.......................................................................................................xiii

LIST OF

FIGURES....................................................................................................xvii

ABREVIATIONS....................................................................................................xviii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................x

x

CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY OF COLLOCATIONS

1.0. Introduction.......................................................................................................1

1.1. The Importance of Collocations in L2 Learning.........................................4

1.2. Collocations in L2 Acquisition Research...................................................13

1.3. Approaches to the Study of Collocations...................................................22

1.3.1. The Lexical Composition Approach...............................................22

1.3.2. The Semantic Approach....................................................................28

1.3.3. The Structural Approach...................................................................36

1.3.4. Summary of the Three Approach...................................................46

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1.4. Collocations and Idioms................................................................................47

1.5. A Framework for the Study of Collocations.............................................49

CHAPTER 2: SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND THE

DEVELOPMENT OF COLLOCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

2.0. Introduction................................................................................................55

2.1. Morphology.................................................................................................57

2.2. Syntax............................................................................................................61

2.3. Phonology....................................................................................................66

2.4. Vocabulary...................................................................................................67

2.4.1. Vocabulary as a Language Sub-Skill...........................................68

2.4.2. Vocabulary as a Language Skill...................................................70

2.4.3. The Acquisition of Lexical Phrases.............................................75

2.4.4. The Acquisition of Collocations..................................................78

2.4.5. Summary..........................................................................................83

2.5. The Aims of the Present Study................................................................84

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY FOR THE PRESENT STUDY

3.0. Introduction.................................................................................................86

3.1. Analysis of the Teaching Materials.........................................................86

3.1.1. Curriculum Objectives...................................................................87

3.1.2. Syllabus and Methodology............................................................87

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3.1.3. Activities and Tasks........................................................................88

3.1.4. The Use of L1....................................................................................89

3.1.5. The Vocabulary................................................................................90

3.1.6. Descriptive Statistics for the TWE Series...................................90

3.2. Subjects..........................................................................................................95

3.3. Materials........................................................................................................96

3.3.1. Questionnaire...................................................................................96

3.3.2. Composition.....................................................................................97

3.3.3 Translation........................................................................................97

3.3.4. Blank-Filling.....................................................................................98

3.4 Data Collection Procedures......................................................................100

3.4.1. Test Administration......................................................................100

3.4.2. Debriefing.........................................................................................102

3.5. Coding Procedures.....................................................................................102

3.5.1. Free Composition..........................................................................103

i) Holistic Rating............................................................................103

ii) Target-Like Use of Articles.....................................................104

iii) Lexical Density.........................................................................106

iv) Terminal-Units.......................................................................107

v) Length of T-Units.....................................................................108

vi) Error-Free T-Units.................................................................108

vii) S-Nodes per T-Unit..............................................................109

3.5.2. Use of Collocations in the Essays...............................................110

3.5.3. Translation......................................................................................111

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3.5.4 Blank-Filling...................................................................................111

3.6. Analyses.......................................................................................................112

3.6.1. Language Proficiency Measures..................................................112

3.6.2. Analyses for the Hypotheses.......................................................113

i) Analysis for Hypothesis 1........................................................113

ii) Analysis for Hypothesis 2.......................................................114

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSES AND RESULTS

4.0. Introduction.................................................................................................116

4.1. Language Proficiency Results...................................................................118

4.1.1. Descriptive Statistics......................................................................118

4.1.1.1. Descriptive Statistics for Group 1...................................118



4.1.2. Results of the MANOVA..............................................................120

4.1.3. Holistic Rating.................................................................................121

4.1.4. Target-Like Use of Articles............................................................121

4.1.5. Lexical Density.................................................................................122

4.1.6. Length of T-Units............................................................................123

4.1.7. Error-Free T-Units...........................................................................125

4.1.8. S-Nodes per T-Unit.........................................................................126

4.1.9. Summary of the Results for the Language

Proficiency Analyses.......................................................................127

4.2. Results of the Main Analyses...................................................................130

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4.2.1. Hypothesis 1: There are patterns of development in

collocational knowledge across proficiency levels...................131

4.2.1.1. Essay Data (All Groups).....................................................132

4.2.1.1.1. Kruskal-Wallis Analyses for the Essay Data..133

4.2.1.1.2. Summary of the Results for the Essay Data...142

4.2.1.1.3. Implicational Scaling for the Essay Data

(All Groups)..............................................................144

4.2.1.2. Translation Data (All Groups).........................................146

4.2.1.2.1. Kruskal-Wallis Analyses for the

Translation Data......................................................147

4.2.1.2.2. Summary of the Results for the


4.2.1.2.3. Implicational Scaling for the Translation

Data (All Groups).....................................................151

4.2.1.3. Blank-Filling Data (All Groups)......................................152

4.2.1.3.1. Kruskal-Wallis Analyses for the

Blank-Filling Data...................................................154



4.2.1.3.3. Implicational Scaling for the Blank-

Filling Data (All Groups).......................................160

4.2.1.4. Summary of the Results for Hypothesis 1....................161

4.2.2. Hypothesis 2: There are patterns in the development of

collocational knowledge within proficiency groups...............162

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4.2.2.1. Essay Data.............................................................................162

4.2.2.1.1. Friedman Test for the Essay Data -

Group 1......................................................................162


Group 2......................................................................163


Group 3......................................................................163

4.2.2.1.4. Implicational Scaling for the

Essay Data by Groups...............................................167

4.2.2.1.5. Summary of the Results for the Essay Data...170

4.2.2.1.6. Further Analyses on the Essay Data................170

4.2.2.2. Translation Data.................................................................171

4.2.2.2.1. Friedman Test for the Translation Data -

Group 1......................................................................172


Group 2......................................................................173


Group 3......................................................................174

4.2.2.2.4. Implicational Scaling for the Translation

Data by Groups.........................................................175



4.2.2.3. Blank-Filling Data..............................................................178

4.2.2.3.1. Friedman Test for the Blank-Filling Data -

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Group 1......................................................................178


Group 2......................................................................179


Group 3......................................................................179

4.2.2.3.4. Implicational Scaling for the Blank-

Filling Data by Groups............................................184



4.2.2.4. Summary of the Results for Hypothesis 2....................187

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

5.0. Introduction.................................................................................................188

5.1. Free Production of Collocations...............................................................189

5.1.1. Between-Group Differences..........................................................189

5.1.2. Within-Group Differences............................................................195

5.2. Cued Production of Collocations.............................................................200

5.2.1. Translation Data..............................................................................200

5.2.1.1. Between-Group Differences.............................................201

5.2.1.1. Within-Group Differences...............................................205

5.2.2. Blank-Filling Data...........................................................................211

5.2.2.1. Between-Group Differences.............................................212

5.2.2.2. Within-Group Differences...............................................214

5.3. Summary of the Findings.........................................................................221

5.4. Factors Affecting the Development of Collocational Knowledge....222

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5.5. Summary of the Discussion......................................................................229

5.6. Pedagogical Implications............................................................................230

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS

6.1. Summary and Conclusions.......................................................................234

6.2. Directions for Further Research...............................................................237

APPENDIX A: Background information for the subjects of

the study................................................................................243

APPENDIX B: Questionnaire......................................................................256

APPENDIX C: Essay topics...........................................................................258

APPENDIX D: Translation test...................................................................261

APPENDIX E: Blank-Filling test................................................................263

APPENDIX F: Instructions given in the test...........................................273

APPENDIX G: Teachers' questionnaire....................................................274

APPENDIX H: Holistic rating scale in Jacobs et al. (1981)......................277

APPENDIX I: Instructions for measuring Target-Like

Use of Articles.....................................................................278

APPENDIX J: Instructions for measuring Lexical Density..................280

APPENDIX K: Instructions for measuring T-Units and

Error-Free T-Units..............................................................283

APPENDIX L: Instructions for measuring Sentence-Nodes................284

APPENDIX M: Implicational scale for the translation data

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(All Groups).........................................................................285

APPENDIX N: Implicational scales for the translation data

by Groups..............................................................................291

APPENDIX O: Implicational scales for the blank-filling data

by Groups..............................................................................297

REFERENCES..........................................................................................................303

xiii

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Examples of lexical functions.........................................................................8

2. Examples of structural patterns of restricted collocations

in English..........................................................................................................43

3. Examples of grammatical and lexical collocations in the BBI

Combinatory Dictionary of English.............................................................45

4. Types of collocation used in the study........................................................50

5. Types of lexical collocations used in the study.........................................52

6. The acquisition of English morphemes.....................................................57

7. Collocation tokens and token-type ratios in the TWE series................91

8. Means and standard deviations per textbook...........................................93

9. Collocation types included in the translation test...................................98

10. Collocation types included in the blank-filling test.................................99

11. Kurtosis and skewness for the language proficiency measures..........120

12. Means and standard deviations for the dependent variable:

Holistic Rating...............................................................................................121

13. Post-hoc comparisons for the dependent variable:

Target-Like Use of Articles..........................................................................122


Target-Like Use of Articles..........................................................................122


xiv

Lexical Density...............................................................................................123


Lexical Density...............................................................................................123


Words per T-Unit.........................................................................................124


Words per T-Unit.........................................................................................124


Error-Free T-Units........................................................................................125


Error-Free T-Units........................................................................................125


S-Nodes per T-Unit......................................................................................126


S-Nodes per T-Unit......................................................................................126

23. Percentage of Error-Free T-Units in Larsen-Freeman (1978)...............129

24. Summary of the results of the Kruskal-Wallis and

post-hoc analyses for the essay data..........................................................132

25. Means and standard deviations by group for the essay data...............140

26. Collocational use distinguishing proficiency levels.............................144

27. Summary of the results of the Kruskal-Wallis tests and

post-hoc analyses for the translation data...............................................147

28. Means and standard deviations by group for the translation data....149

29. Translation accuracy distinguishing proficiency levels.......................151

xv

30. Summary of the results of the Kruskal-Wallis tests and

post-hoc analyses for the blank-filling data............................................153

31. Means and standard deviations by group for the

blank-filling data...........................................................................................157

32. Blank-filling accuracy distinguishing proficiency levels.....................159

33. Nemenyi's multiple comparisons tests of mean rank

differences for the essay data - Group 1....................................................164





36. Nemenyi's multiple comparisons tests of mean rank differences

for the translation data - Group 1..............................................................172

37. Nemenyi's multiple comparisons tests of mean rank differences

for the translation data - Group 2..............................................................173


differences for the translation data - Group 3.........................................174


differences for the blank-filling data - Group 1......................................181





42. Collocation types used most frequently in the students’ essays.........195

xvi

43. Accuracy order for the collocation types included in the

translation test - All Groups.......................................................................202


translation test - Group 1............................................................................206






blank-filling test - Group 1.........................................................................214





xvii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Distribution of collocations across the TWE series..................................91

2. Means use of collocation tokens - essay data - all groups....................142

3. Mean use of collocation tokens per type in the essay data...................146

4. Mean accuracy of response for the translation data...............................150

5. Mean accuracy of response for the translation data - all groups.........152

6. Mean accuracy of response for the blank-filling data............................158

7. Mean accuracy of response for the blank-filling data - all groups......161

8. Mean use of collocation tokens in the essay data - Group 1................168



11. Mean accuracy of response for the translation data - Group 1............176



14. Mean accuracy of response for the blank-filling data - Group 1..........185



17. Model of the development of collocational knowledge.......................225

18. Mean age for subjects per Group................................................................243

19. Distribution of gender across Groups.......................................................243

xviii

ABBREVIATIONS

Adj = Adjective

Adv = Adverb

BSM = Bilingual Syntax Method

c = Complement

crea(t) = Creation

det = Determiner

Diff = Difference

EFL = English as a Foreign Language

EFT = Error-Free T-Units

ELT = English Language Teaching

erad = Eradication

ESL = English as a Second Language

Hol. = Holistic

inf = Infinitive

L1 = Mother Tongue, First Language

L2 = Second Language

LD = Lexical Density

lex = Lexical

N = Noun

N = Node (only in Chapter 1)

NP = Noun Phrase

O = Object

xix

poss = Possessive

Pred = Predicate

Prep = Preposition

S = Subject

S-Node(s) = Sentence Node(s)

STD DEV = Standard Deviation

TLU = Target Like Use

T-Unit(s) = Terminal Unit(s)

TWE = Task Way English

V = Verb

VP = Verb Phrase

wh = Wh-word

xx

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgement is due to my supervisors for their help and support

throughout my Ph.D. project. In particular, I thank Dr Michael Harrington for

his patient editing of the drafts of chapters, and for his comments on the results

and my interpretation of the findings, Dr Peter Robinson for helping me shape

my research questions and analyse my data, Professor Roly Sussex for his help

on the development of the research design and for discussions which were the

starting point for my interest in collocations. I am also grateful to the students

of the MA programme at C.L.T.R. for acting as inter-raters in the scoring of my

data. Thanks are also due to Dr Toni Baglioni for his advice on the statistical

analyses of my data.

I must also acknowledge the Principal of the ‘Fili;ppeion’ High School,

Mr Michael Akrivopoulos, for permitting me to conduct my research at his

school. Thanks are also due to the Vice-Principal, Mrs Sofia Pistofidou, for

organising the data collection and for her support in obtaining permission for

my data collection from the Department of Secondary Education in Greece.

I must also express my thanks to my family - my mother Maria, my

father Dimos, and my sister Efi - for supporting and encouraging me

throughout my study. I am also grateful to my life-long friend, Christina

Bademi, for her support and assistance on numerous occasions. I would also

like to express my gratitude to my friends, Professor Andrew Lian and Ania

Lian for their support and friendship over the past 4 years. Most of all, though,

I have relied on the help and support of Richard Taylor, who kept me happy

xxi

while I wrote this, sharing the many labours with me. I am more grateful to

him than I can say.

Finally, I must thank DEET for supplying me with an Overseas

Postgraduate Scholarship that paid for my tuition fees, and C.L.T.R. for

employing me thoughout the majority of my time in the Ph.D. programme,

thus allowing me to support myself financially.

xxii

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To my Parents

Afierwvvnw th diatribhv mou stouß Goneivß mou,

ston patevra mou, Dhvmo Gkitsavkh,

kai sth mhtevra mou, Mariva Liavtsou-Gkitsavkh,

me agavph.

Documents

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESL COLLOCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE · 2016-08-13 · ABSTRACT . This study examines the development of collocational knowledge in learners of ESL. A number of previous